Posts Tagged ‘meeting’

Present: Fr. Don Dilg, Lorraine Bailey, Johnny Lopez, Vicki Rector, Dale Schnitker, and Todd Wiseman.  Guest:  Mike Murray. Absent: Terry Lutz

The meeting was called to order at 9:05 a.m. with a reading by Father Don.

Repairs and Renovations: Mike Murray gave a detailed report on the status of the interior, exterior building renovations as well as the parking lot, drainage and landscaping needs. His report is included with these minutes. Since some of the improvements added to the fire hazard reduction/safety quotient, Lorraine Bailey questioned whether a reduction in insurance premiums might be realized. Vicki Rector to follow up.

Fred Mais will prepare a Report for a Bulletin Insert showing work completed, in progress and remaining to be done, as well as a total cost for the repairs and renovations.  A Knox Box is being installed at the East door. The Fire Department will have the only key to open this box which will contain identified keys to all doors for quick, easy access. The new system requires two phone numbers: The primary is the parish center phone number; the secondary is the fax number. The monitoring service will cost $30.00 per month. Concern was voiced about a false warning if something set the alarm off by accident. This concern will be addressed at a training session for the new system is scheduled for April 13, 2010 at 2:00 p.m.

Finance Council Membership:

New Member: Carol Korzekwa was warmly welcomed as a new member to the Finance Council.

Resignation: Father Don announced that he had received a letter of resignation from Keith Waggoner as a Finance Council Member due to Keith’s move to Wray, Colorado to accept the position of CEO at a local bank.

Additional Member: An Agenda item for the next meeting will be a discussion as to whether an additional member to the Finance Council needs to be appointed at this time.

Financial Statements:

St. Peter/St. Victor: Terry Lutz, FC member for this area will review the statements on his return from an Arizona business trip. Unless he raises any objection, the statements were approved as read. Cripple Creek Historical Grant for replacement of Stained Glass Windows: Work completed but sealing is needed. 50% of grant money received; remaining 50% will be received at project completion. Father Don reported that exterior repair work is needed to the north side of St. Peter’s. Bids for repair work are in progress. A question arose as to whether this work had been previously budgeted for but no line item was found in 2009-10 budget. The leadership team at St. Peter/St. Victor will deliver their proposed budget to Vicki Rector by May 31st so their budget can be submitted in Diocese Format by 6/30/10 for approval.

Our Lady of the Woods: Statements, as well as July 2009-Martch 2010 Average Weekly Offertory Report, reviewed with the following comments, suggestions and questions:

00-1030, Current Assets, Park State Bank Operating Account: Funds in this account reflect the money we have to work with now as working capital for current projects, capital projects are not included.

00-1711, Other Assets, Work-in-Progress: Includes work being done which eventually translates into an increase in Land and Buildings Values line items.

00-3010, Offertory Income: $9,000 less than same time last year, in part due to the fact that 2010 Easter offering income will not appear until April statements.

70-6000, Charity and Social Concerns: Includes local charities, diocesan charities, Capuchin Monks Mall Ministry, Diaconate Ministers Expenses, Rosary Makers, Funeral Reception, VITA and other parish charitable activities.

00-1712, Work in Progress (2010 Renovation Expenses): Dale Schnitker requested that this sum, which represents one time expenses, would be more properly placed under 01-6000, Other Expenses-Capital Projects as its current placement improperly distorts the Net Ordinary Income bottom line.

Weekly Offertory Report: Increased August giving reflects visitor contributions, summer as well as “Snowbird” contributions (these part-time attendees have been encouraged to register with OLW and some contribute to our Capital campaign) but the figures indicate that regular giving for a congregation of our size is low in comparison to peer group churches.

Vicki Rector will provide FC members with listing of Chart of Accounts for better understanding of budget items.

2010-11 Budget Preparation: Finance Council Members were e-mailed budget review items for perusal prior to today’s meeting such as Diocesan Guidelines, a Worksheet showing projected year end 6/30/10 Income and Expenses and incorporating Diocesan mandates into Proposed Budget Column, Application for Subsidy, and Ministry Inputs.

Thoughts and Reflections for the Finance Council Budgeting Process: Father Don offered his views on offertory giving at Our Lady of the Woods over the past six years in comparison to his experience at other churches and giving records at other diocese churches. His statements were keen, reflective, and disturbing. He senses an acceptance of the premise that ours is a poor country parish; therefore, greater giving isn’t to be expected. And since greater giving isn’t expected, our congregation has to content itself with bare necessities and minimal expenditures, not look to the greater wants, needs, and participation, and most important, not buy into doing (and paying for) what is needed to accomplish God’s wishes for His people.

Are our demographics or our perception of them correct? He challenged us to get out of our rut and dream. We have to change our self image from a negative one to something more positive and do what is needed to uphold our faith. Someone interrupted with the oft heard excuse, “It’s the economy!” to which Dale replied, “Let’s not go there!” Yes, constraints may be present but our emphasis should be on accomplishing the goals of our mission statements. He stated that the Stewardship Model is difficult to achieve and what is needed at Our Lady of the Woods is a major effort that is greater and more challenging than a Capital Campaign. Instead we must communicate to our parish members their individual need for greater participation. In line with a change of perception was his statement: “Parish debt is good!” While a balanced budget is a noble objective, taking care of needs is a greater good, even if it involves debt and the correlating need to raise money to discharge the debt. These were sobering statements to Finance Council members who participated in recent budget processing in a negative expectations mode. These thoughts and statements impacted the following budget considerations and the recommendation that the proposed budget be expressed twofold: An essentials only/no frills budget column and an alternate column allowing for greater wants compensated by greater giving. This second column would require a leap from anticipated receipts to increased giving to cover for budgeted needs.

The Diocese requires us to submit a balanced budget.

Ministries Budget Requests: Proposed letter to Ministry Leaders discussed. Will be revised by Todd Wiseman and Vicki Rector to be more positive and encourage the fullness of participation of the membership of each ministry to input ideas and needs which would allow the ministry to obtain the objective of its Mission Statement. Letter will propose “dare to dream” but be reasonable. Include a bulletin item to encourage ministry members to meet with their leader and be part of the budget request and ideas to achieve the ministry mission objective. Ministry Leaders and Finance Council will meet at a budget meeting, May 18, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.

Finance Council Line Items Considerations: Needs to be considered and tasking nominees for research of options/costs:

Parish Priest:  Must follow Diocesan Guidelines.

Phone System: Our system woefully inadequate. New line needed; new equipment; options to be considered. Johnny Lopez said his “Virtual Office” phone investigation would not fit our needs.

Carillon: Manual operation only now and not used as before. Repair or replacement costs?

Faith Formation Director: Increased hours must be approved from 20 to accomplish the challenges of this position. Note: 30 hours would qualify as a full time position and benefits costs should be added to the calculation for the increased hours.

Youth Minister: Additional hours may be needed to expand the duties and accomplish the needed results.

Updated job descriptions would be a benefit to determine present and future needs of these ministries to accomplish goals and any needed adjustments to salary.

COLA:  Cost of living increases not given the past 2 years. Cost of living increases are not to be viewed as a salary increase but as a continuance of the status quo. It is a social injustice not to compensate our employees fairly.

Annual increases: COLA type increases prevalent in utilities, insurance, and other areas. Vicki Rector to research probably 2010-11 increases and include in budget projections.

WEBSITE POSTING OF MINUTES: Minutes will be e-mailed to FC Members for approval. When approved by e-mail response of members, they will be posted on our website.

After a recitation of the “Our Father”, the meeting adjourned at 11:15 a.m. NExt meeting is May 11, 2010 at 9:00 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Lorraine Bailey, Acting Secretary

OUR LADY OF THE WOODS FINANCE COUNCIL

Minutes of March 9, 2010 Meeting

Present: Fr. Don Dilg, Lorraine Bailey, Johnny Lopez, Dale Schnitker, Todd Wiseman

Absent: Terry Lutz, Vicki Rector, Keith Waggoner

The meeting was called to order at 9:04 a.m. with a prayer led by Johnny Lopez.

Financial Statements: Since our Business Manager was out-of-state on a family medical visit, the statements were reviewed and accepted pending clarification or additional information from her on noted items in italics. Dale Schnitker will contact Vicki; her responses will be annotated in bold italics.

St. Peter/St. Victor:  Account 003281, Historical Grant – $11,025.00. Father Don explained that this amount represents a grant by the City of Cripple Creek Historical Commission to replace one stained glass window per year. This year’s replacement has been completed but not billed/paid. One more window remains for next year replacement. Since Terry Lutz, St. Peter/St. Victor FC representative could not attend this meeting; Dale Schnitker volunteered to review the February statements and FC comments with him.

Our Lady of the Woods:   Father Don distributed a March 8, 2010 memo from Vicki Rector, Business Manager, concerning the February Financial Statements, a copy of which is attached hereto.

First Item: Donations Restricted, now called Restricted – Specific Purpose: If the expenditure for the intended purpose cannot be made by the end of the fiscal year, the amount will remain restricted but be carried forward to the following year. How is this done?

For these particular specific account subaccounts: Expenditures are disbursed from these accounts before the end of the fiscal year. Payment vouchers are posted to the restricted account from Faith Formation before their specific budget items; the same procedure for any other ministry’s restricted donation; etc. I also monitor these accounts in the spring and alert the leader whether funds still available and, if so, they need to find something to spend them on. This is also a requirement that the independent auditor looks for each year. Each ministry leader involved is aware of this requirement.

Balance Sheet Comparison:

Increased 2010 Assets due to increases in Operating Bank Balance, contributions to Capital Projects, Investments – Capital Campaign receipts invested.

Current Assets: 00-1030 for $42,465 represents the sole operating money account; the other four accounts are restricted.

Income Statement Comparison:

00-3066, Subsidy Diocese – Has this subsidy been discontinued? No, the amount in that account, $8,167 is active. We receive $1,167 a month. We will have to re-apply for this subsidy with the next budget submission to the Diocese.

00-3155, DMA Rebate from Diocese – Zero balance this year since 2010 10% rebate from Annual Diocese Appeal will be received after close of this year’s campaign.

00-3000, Restricted – Specific Purpose - Plus $13,000 this year. Donations earmarked for Funerals, Giving Tree, Specific Missions, Emergency Food Assistance, etc. Where did the increased giving come from? Donations wherein the donor designated what the donation was for on the memo portion of the check or on an enclosed note; e.g., Faith Formation, Music, etc. In the case of Faith Formation, donations are encouraged because it costs about $150/per year/per student but we only charge a “book fee” of $25.00 per student and some parents write their check for more than this amount with the entire check goes to Faith Formation. Some Haiti or Chili earthquake funds (ap. 10% remains of those designated receipts) remain in that account but they will be sent to their designated places.

70-6000, Charity & Social Concerns: $10,000 increase this year. Need Chart of Accounts information to delineate breakdown of recipients under this category. Chart of Accounts, Charity section attached to these minutes as well as Account Quick Report showing expenditures in this category from July 2009 through February 2010. Reminder: Charity is 10% of our income (less investment income and restricted donations which cannot be included in the income calculation). Also, our charity recipients are paid quarterly, not monthly.

Income and Expenses – Budget vs. Actual this fiscal year

00-5000, Personnel Expenses: Ap. $25,500 expense reduction since budget was for a Parish Director and Sacramental Minister. With Deacon Roger’s departure, expense for Sacramental Minister not needed.

Investments:

Current Assets/Checking/Savings Accounts: Funds for non-restricted investments.                        Other Assets: Investment accounts for Permanently Restricted purposes and Capital Projects Accounts:  Decision to invest in Zions Certificates of Deposits and CBIS (Christian Brothers Investment Service) stock funds reviewed.

Note: Discussion as to need for periodic review of efficacy of current investments. Also to compare potential of current investments vs. changing to different funds, etc. Todd Wiseman will research our CBIS investments with this view in mind. The FC discussed the possibility of inviting a CBIS representative to a future FC meeting.

Capital Project Funds Available:

00-1062, Capital Projects Park State Bank Account: Non-restricted funds which can be used for any needed capital projects including electrical upgrades, parking lot and other major maintenance/improvement expenses.

Other Assets/Investments: $369,754.53 – essentially building fund amount.

2010-2011 Budgeting Process: Father Don asked FC members to review the March 4, 2010 Memorandum from the Diocese which may be applicable to our TCCC budget, as well as this year’s budget and current comparisons to meeting budgetary goals. Vicki will send an update of last year’s memo to the Parish Ministries representative stating this year’s budget amount for their respective ministry and requesting needs input for the ensuing budget year.

Budget Process Time Line/Dates:

April 13:   Business Manager submits tentative non-negotiable figures in spreadsheet format. Discuss ministry leaders’ involvement.

May 11:    Actual preparation of Budget

June 8:      Finalize Budget

June 30:    Deadline for submission of budget to Diocese for approval

TCCC Special Needs Consideration:

Computer/Information Systems Needs:  Dan Rector to assess needs.

OLW Phone System: Father Don said our current system is inadequate and in need of upgrade. Johnny Lopez advised the effectiveness/low cost elements of using a Virtual Office Phone System. He will research applicability/cost for OLW.

Budget for Father Don Farewell Party: Date: Lorraine Bailey reported June 20, 2010, Father’s Day, selected/approved. Location: Our Lady of the Woods lower parking lot and Kavanagh Field for Picnic/Bar-B-Q and Family Activities. Costs: Many absorbed by ministries and participants. Other costs which may be necessary such as tent rental for weather considerations was approved as not to exceed $1,000. Lorraine Bailey was appointed Finance Council representative for party planning committee.

Length of Meetings: The FC goal has been to limit meeting time to one hour. With volume of business conducted at each meeting, this time frame appears to be unrealistic, especially during the budgeting process meetings. Meetings will continue to be scheduled second Tuesday of the month at 9:00 a.m. on a time sensitive but time needed basis. Father Don is continuing his search for an additional FC member, preferably a woman with children participating in our Faith Formation program(s). Johnny Lopez will contact Keith Waggoner as to his availability/commitment to continue as a FC member.

Discernment Process: Todd Wiseman, a Discernment Committee member also, reported there is potential interest in purchasing the church land. He said realistically a new church will not be an actuality for at least another two years. He will report developments to the Finance Council.

Church Repairs: The Diocese approved repairs recommended at the January Finance Council meeting. However, the efficacy of two categories must be considered:

Drainage Ditch: Fred Mais met with the architect and several construction contractors and the feeling is that the approved method will not work properly. Alternate suggestions are to landscape the church area and to include large gutter wraparounds. This is a project better left to the spring rather than immediate weather conditions. Also, Fred Mais and Mike Murray recommended the removal of two large trees near the building which add to the icing conditions and also present a fire spread potential to the building. Additional input needed. A bulletin insert is needed to update the congregation on this matter.

Electrical Work: Fred and Mike checked with IREA as to utility cost effectiveness of the planned work. It appears the work may be a redundant expense since it will not reduce our utility expenses. While a contract has been signed with IREA to remedy immediate safety concerns – e.g., additional dedicated circuits for the parish center, fire alarms, etc. – this situation will continued to be monitored closely.

Membership/Chairperson:

Revised meetings time and the importance of regular FC attendance were discussed.

Dale Schnitker was nominated and voted to act as the Finance Council Chairman. He graciously accepted.

The next regular Finance Meeting will be April 13, 2010 at 9:00 a.m.

The meeting was adjourned at 10:25 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Lorraine Bailey

Acting Secretary

ALL PARISH MEETING

As you know, our parish is in the midst of a discernment process, the results of which will affect our community for generations to come. Literally hundreds of hours have been contributed to this effort by many of our fellow parishioners; and this process is now at a very crucial juncture. That is why I am making a special appeal to you to come to the next All Parish Meeting.

On Sunday April 11, from 10:45 – 12:30, in the church, the preliminary results and proposals from our combined sub-committees will be presented to the parish as a whole. I honestly believe that the Spirit has been working through them, and now desires to work through you.

This meeting will be repeated on the following Tuesday evening, from 7:00-9:00 PM. Please do come to one of these meetings and offer the gift of your insights to our parish.

In the peace of Christ,

Fr. Don